Challenge For Building Inspector Building Inspector Says He Likes Challenge

February 09, 1986|by TIM DARRAGH, The Morning Call

The man in charge of Bethlehem Township's Building Inspection Department, Bruce Trout, tells a little story about the pleasures of being an inspector of construction sites. Trout said an architect with whom he was speaking, given the hypothetical choice between building code enforcement and jail, didn't really surprise him with his choice.

The architect chose jail.

"I'm not sure he wasn't serious," Trout said.

Considering the heavy public criticism of the township's Building Inspection Department in the past year - with numerous allegations of improperly inspected buildings, topped by former Building Inspector Lou Johns' admission that he didn't perform final inspections on 60 percent of the new homes from 1982-85 - it seems likely that most people would agree with the architect's position.

"I knew it was a challenge," Trout said in an interview last week in his cluttered office. "I couldn't seem to resist that."

The 33-year-old Bath-area resident also said the township job presented him with a chance to leave the employ of South Whitehall, where he was building official since August 1983. Trout declined to elaborate on his reasons for leaving South Whitehall.

Trout said he was well aware of the bad publicity surrounding the Bethlehem Township office.

"At least in public opinion, you couldn't get any lower than this department," Trout said. "Things seemed to be in a shambles."

Soon, however, he said he realized things "weren't in a shambles," although there was plenty that needed improvement.

Trout followed George Harris, a private building inspector who was hired last summer for the rest of the year, following the dismissal of Johns.

Harris was considered a tough inspector, so much so that in September, a group of builders complained that Harris was harassing them, or "nitpicking things apart," according to builder Albert DeAngelis. At the September township commissioners meeting, DeAngelis said he believed local contractors were "paying the price" for the reported problems in the inspection department.

Trout said he's "not out to win a popularity contest," but added that township contractors were not entirely to blame for the building problems.

"I don't think the contractorsknow what is expected of them," he said. "There are plenty of good builders over here. The vast majority of them are excellent.

"It's very difficult to enforce 500-600 pages of code and not have the builder and the inspector make mistakes," he added.

And if a builder installs windows that do not conform with the Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) regulations, "It doesn't mean it's a bad home," he said.

Code enforcement officials also sometimes have to fight new homeowners, who often are under pressure to move into their homes, even if they haven't been certified to be habitable. Other times, the families are just impatient.

Whatever the situation, Trout, who has been involved in construction for more than 20 years, said he intends to enforce the codes equally and fairly. Violating building codes, he said, can result in criminal citations and lawsuits.

For now, Trout said he is attempting to "educate" local builders on what codes are enforceable in the township. Once builders know of the codes' parameters, Trout said, penalties will be imposed if they break the rules.

Trout said he is not demeaning builders by saying he is hoping to educate them, because the code is always evolving. Further, municipalities throughout the Lehigh Valley enforce different codes, Trout said. Although he said municipalities should update codes by ordinance, various communities in the Lehigh Valley operate under differing regulations since many communities have not been updating their codes. Some municipalities have no codes adopted at all, he added.

This relates directly to an issue Trout strongly supports - adoption of a statewide building code.

Adoption of such a code, as numerous states have done, would take the mystery out of building-code enforcement, he said.

The existing confusion over what codes are enforceable, Trout said, adds to a difficult task for building inspectors, whose office has been "traditionally understaffed."

Bethlehem Township is no exception, although part-time inspector Joseph Polenchar last week was hired full-time, he said. At least one more inspector could be hired, Trout insisted.

With the township continuing to be at or near the top in terms of new development in the Lehigh Valley - Trout said he is expecting about 250 housing starts in the township this year - inspectors will never be short of duties. And besides the half-dozen or so inspections for individual homes, the township issues permits for fences, pools, additions and alterations, which should be inspected, too.